Reapers Have Hearts Too
by AceLovesAnime
Summary: After a rather uncomfortable dream of his past, William T Spears finds himself calling the first person that comes to mind - Grell Sutcliff. (Previous Undertaker x Will, current Grell x Will). {Credit for the cover image goes to the appropriate artist.}
1. Match Made in Memory

/ I've brought back this story with a bit of edits made to the original chapters. I'll be posting the others tonight, and will work on writing chapter six thereafter.

* * *

**_Flashback from years before now._**

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" William asked, his face a mask of confusion as he looked at the older reaper. It wasn't unheard of for a grim reaper to go AWOL during some strange mid-afterlife crisis, but… the Undertaker was the best of the best, and the very thought of him walking out of the reaper's realm seemed impossible.

But that same ancient reaper only shrugged as he explained, "William, I've been doing this for a very long time. I've been at the death-bed of men, women, and children alike; in that time, I've seen all there is to see and… I've grown bored, William, of watching as others die and knowing that nobody will notice when I meet my maker; it seems likely that you or any of the others would simply nod your head and walk away if I were to die. And that… that, William, troubles me."

"That isn't true," the younger argued despite his usual composure. His eyes were wide with surprise at the accusations that the elder had thrown his way. "I mean," he started again, shaking his head in a wild attempt to compose himself, "Of course we'd notice. You're a legend, 'Taker—"

It was then that the older man interrupted Will and taught him something that the younger would take with him the rest of his life, "I am a legend of death, yes, but I've never had a chance to live. Retirement… it will give me a chance again." He paused, and his luminescent eyes seemed to soften as he added, "What does it matter to you, Will?"

"It matters because I—"

**_"—Hello loves!"_** Grell Sutcliff interrupted as he pushed the doors of the Undertaker's room open. He wore a bright smile on his face that revealed every razor-sharp tooth that grin held, and his red coat was wrapped tightly around himself against the Winter's cool air.

Will groaned in exasperation as he snapped, ,"Now is not the time, Grell!" He flashed a glance at the Undertaker then, who seemed completely oblivious to what William had been about to say.

Pouting, the crimson reaper asked, "Not the time? How could you say that? You're not even working this time!" He stomped his foot in a show of anger as he muttered, "It's not right to treat a lady like this, always blowing me off—"

"—Hush now, Grelle," the Undertaker's purr interrupted, instantly evaporating the actress' annoyance. He waved a hand in dismissal then as he added, "We're trying to talk about something; I'll fill you in later. Until then, make yourself scarce."

Grell huffed but turned on his heel to leave regardless of his irritation, "Fine, fine. I'll see you later then, 'Taker. And you too, Will! You owe me a drink still!" With that, the crimson reaper disappeared out the door once again, leaving William alone with the elder once again.

"Now, what were you going to say?"

Will's jaw set with annoyance, his eyes blazing despite his usual neutral appearance as he snapped, "Just forget about it, 'Taker. Do what you want." He turned around to leave, only to have the elder catch his arm, "What do you want?"

The other reaper sighed heavily, "I want to know what you were saying before Grell showed up. I asked you why it mattered if I retired and I want an answer to that."

The words all flew out of William's mouth at once in the same moment that he ripped his arm away from the Undertaker's grip, "It matters because I like you and now I'll never have an excuse to talk to you. Just… just piss off, 'Taker." He stormed out of the room without another word, only to run into Grell who'd been waiting in the hallway. "Damn it, Sutcliff—"

"—I'll talk to 'Taker for you," the feminine reaper said with a smile, simply patting Will on the shoulder before going around him and heading towards the older reaper's room. "Consider it a debt paid, Will."

* * *

Later, Grell had found William again in the privacy of his room. "I talked to him," he jumped straight into the conversation, flopping down on the edge of Will's bed as he elaborated, "He told me to give you this." He held out the small slip of paper, and Will could only take it, scanning the scrawling text:

_Meet me at the bar, William.  
I'd say we'll talk, but we probably won't. _  
_So we'll drink._  
_See you at eight. _  
**_-Undertaker_**

"This better not be one of your jokes, Sutcliff," William warned as he folded the piece of paper in half and tucked it into his pocket.

"Why would I bother with a joke like that?" Grell scoffed, "I told you that I wanted to help and that's what I'm doing. So hush and get ready; you've only got a couple hours before you've got to be at the bar and I simply will not allow you to go on a date looking like that."


	2. One Night Stand

_**Still part of the flashback!**_

The Undertaker was halfway through a glass of something he didn't recall the name of when Will showed up at the bar. He waved the younger over, snapped his fingers at the bartender as he ordered another drink for 'his friend' and then turned his attention back to Will, "Ya made it, eh?"

"If Grell's put you up to this, you can leave," William pointed out as he sat in the bar-stool next to the Undertaker, taking the tumbler of whiskey that had been sat next to him. He sipped at it for a moment, eyes on the ceiling, before finally forcing himself to spit out the words, "I gather you're not much of a talker at the bar then?"

The other reaper shrugged his shoulders, gesturing thoughtfully as he formed the words, "Grell didn't put me up t'nothing. And to answer your question, I generally say things I regret later n' have taken that as a clue not 't talk."

"I guess that makes sense," William sighed, shrugging his shoulders before taking a long drink. When the burn had faded from his throat, he asked, "So what is this, 'Taker?"

For a moment, it seemed like the elder wasn't going to answer at all. Then he brushed the question aside with a simple, "Drink your whiskey, Spears, I didn't invite ya here to chat." He tipped back the last of his own drink, ordered something stronger, and they resulted not to speak until both were too drunk to remember what the other said…

* * *

The next morning, William T. Spears had woken up alone in his bed with a note tucked under the other pillow. A glance at the slip of paper determined what part of Will had already knew:

_G'bye._  
_-Undertaker_

Completely taken aback, a half-asleep Will somehow convinced himself that it was a joke. Getting up and dressing himself, he'd rushed to the reception room and asked them to page the Undertaker. The woman behind the desk sighed, looking sympathetic as she patted Will's hand, "I'm sorry, Spears, he left early this morning. He left the message that you could contact him through Grell if it was important."

The reaper clenched his teeth, feeling like a complete idiot as he turned away from the receptionist and snapped, "Just forget it, Miss. I'll see you later." With that, he adjusted his glasses with the edge of his scythe and stalked off towards Grell Sutcliff's room with a new determination…


	3. Awakened

**_Present day in the world of Kuroshitsuji._**

Back in the present,William Spears woke with a curse, sitting up straight in his bed as he glanced around his room. He adjusted his spectacles and shook his head with a frown, muttering to himself, "It's been centuries. This is ridiculous… "

He tried to fall back asleep, but when that didn't work he found himself dialing the scarlet reaper's number. It rang three times before a sleepy-sounding reaper answered the phone. A breath later, Will surprised himself by saying, "Hey Sutcliff… up for a few drinks?"

* * *

/ I know it's short, don't mind that!


	4. Here For You

_**Back To The Flashback/Dream!**_

By the time he'd gotten to Grell's room, the determination had fallen apart and turned into heartache. The door opened to reveal the scarlet reaper and Will invited himself in without a word, flopping onto the edge of the other's bed just like Grell had his so many times. "Are you okay, Will?" Sutcliff asked, sitting down at his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

For the first time, William didn't pull out of the other reaper's grasp. He just sighed, dropping his scythe onto the ground as he muttered, "He never planned to stay, did he?"

"No," Grell murmured, "I'm sorry… It was the best I could do for you, Will. I tried to convince him to say goodbye, but—"

"—Just shut up, Grell."

Sighing as the other male's irritability, Grell stood from his perch on the bed and held his hand out to William, "Come on, I'll buy you some coffee." Sensing the other's hesitation, his voice was gentle when he added, "And I won't be leaving anytime soon, Will…"


	5. Date Night?

_**Present day in the world of Kuroshitsuji.**_

Grell had been fast asleep when the dream had woke him up. He shook his head in confusion as he pushed his blankets away, a frown on his face. It had been years since he'd even thought about the "old days" as he thought of them. Jumping at the sound of his phone ringing, he stalked over to where it was hung to answer it, "Yeah, Grell Sutcliff speaking. What'd'ya want?"

"Hey, Sutcliff… up for a few drinks?" William T. Spears' voice brought through the speakers, thoroughly shocking Grell as he glanced at the clock: three in the morning. Sighing heavily, he found himself consenting, "Yeah, Will, sure. I'll be over in a few." With that, he hung up the phone. It was only after he'd done so that he realized what had just happened: Grell Sutcliff then proceeded to absolutely panic.

_Did Will just ask me out?_


	6. Prepartions

"Alright, don't panic, Sutcliff," Grell told himself, pacing back and forth on the red carpet of his bedroom, "A few drinks doesn't mean it's a date, right? Will wouldn't ever ask me out on a date..."

But it didn't matter how much he said that, or how many times he tried to convince himself that he had misunderstood, because Grell was pretty sure that the exact thing he was denying had just happened.

**_And he'd accepted!_**

It wasn't even that he didn't want to go on a date with William. Of course he did! It'd be like a dream come true, finally getting to spend time with Will outside of the office! But... what was he going to wear!? What would he say!? There hadn't been any chance to prepare for this!

Okay, maybe Grell was overreacting, but that was... well, that made sense, given the circumstances and his personality. Stripping out of the silky pajamas he slept in, he pulled on a nicer shirt than what he wore to work, then dressed the rest of the way in his usual attire. _That would have to be good enough..._

Tugging on his red coat, the reaper wrapped it tightly around himself before stepping out into the chilly weather.


End file.
